[These notes were made in 1984:]. Chronologically, this novel comes late in Darkover's history, after the establishment of the Terran space colony, and as such is partly about cultural clashes and compromises. But since about the last half of the novel involves the wanderings through the Darkovan wilderness of a Terran (Larry Montray) and a Darkovan (Kennard), both young men, it is also primarily a bildungsroman, and is about male bonding. I enjoyed it very much indeed, and was interested to note how Bradley avoids letting us identify completely with either one of her cultures: rather, the Terran technical culture is a warning of what could realistically happen, and the Darkovan primitivism, tho' it retains many necessary virtues, can also gain from the Terran influence.